Escape the Tamping Rod
The brain is the most complex structure we know, so studying and discovering how it works is complex. For many years scientists have had to rely on dissecting brains when they're dead (we hope), which means they're no longer working. Not an ideal way to discover how something works. Another strategy is to study what happens to a person when something goes wrong with their brain, which brings us to the unfortunate Phineas Gage. At approximately 4:30 on 13th September 1848, Gage was working at clearing rock for a new railway. He was preparing an explosive charge, using a long metal rod to pack the explosives into a hole drilled into the rock. A spark caused the charge to explode, propelling the rod up through his cheek and out through the top of his head. The rod was blown 25m away from the accident. Miraculously Gage survived this. Stories of his treatment following the accident are full of brain matter falling out of wounds and infections. The doctors could even see his '...